


I Know Places

by Roxy206



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:06:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29149422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roxy206/pseuds/Roxy206
Summary: Beth has to get Rio out of dodge & he knows just the place..."There's only one bed," she said.He looked around as if he wasn't familiar with the cabin. "Damn, you're right.""I'm not sharing a bed with you."
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 20
Kudos: 101





	I Know Places

The wind whipped around her & she pulled the belt of her trench coat tighter, trying to strengthen the barrier between her & the cold rush of the air. If there was one thing she was thankful for about the cost of Fitzpatrick's services it was his attention to detail, specifically the address of Rio's new place. She held her index finger down on the buzzer, the cuff of her sleeve gripped under the rest of her fingers, trying to keep in whatever warmth she could. 

She could hear an interior door open & shut, so she let off the buzzer, steeling herself for at the very least the annoyance that was going to be directed at her momentarily. He opened the door to the building & before she knew what she was doing she moved forward into the annex, shutting the door behind her. 

Silently he took her in, his eyes traveling down her body & then slowly back up. He half expected her to be in her pajamas under her coat since it was the middle of the night. When he had been awoken by the buzzer, the clock reading 3:17am, he had thrown on the first shirt he laid his hand on & the nearest pair of jeans. Assuming it must have been an emergency, worrying that something may have happened to Marcus, he hadn't bothered checking his phone before coming down. If he had he guessed there would probably be a flurry of missed calls & texts from her. It had been a while since she had tried to track him down though & the intrigue was almost enough to outweigh his annoyance at being woken up. Almost. 

"We have to leave Detroit," she said, launching right into it.

He locked eyes with her, noticing the dark circles she was sporting. "Excuse me?" 

"We have to -" she started, stopped. She shifted her weight from one leg to the other & sighed. "Can we go up to your place to have this discussion?" 

"Think you can tell me whatever it is right here just as well, Elizabeth." 

"It's... time sensitive," she told him. "It would be better if we talked about it upstairs while you pack."

He laughed at that. "Did you hear me agree to go anywhere with you? You wanna talk about wasting time, you haven't given me any reason to keep listening." He crossed his arms, leaned back against the door to make it clear that if their discussion was going to continue it was going to happen right there. 

"I put a hit out on you & I'm trying to call it off, but we can't get a hold of him or find him." The words tumbled out of her mouth quickly, but efficiently, like she had been repeating them to herself. "You're on his schedule, so we need to leave so he can't find you." 

He raised an eyebrow at her. "We?" 

"Yeah." She bit her lip, waiting for an onslaught of questions. 

He pushed back off the door, turning to open the door & hold it for her. He nodded toward the elevator & then followed her. They were silent as they made their way to his apartment. She noticed that the common areas of the building were much nicer than his old building & she guessed she would never have been able to break in through a fire escape here. 

She stood just inside the door of his apartment, her hands shoved into the pockets of her coat, trying not to give into her curiosity. She wanted to walk around, see the new space he was living in, but she was counting herself lucky that she had gotten this far & didn't want to push it. But she wondered whether he had the same photos displayed, whether his closet was just as big as the last one. He didn't give her much time to contemplate, returning to her side with a bag in one hand & a jacket in the other. 

"You're taking the first driving shift," he told her as they made their way down to the street. "Take I-375 North & then I-75 North."

"The first shift?" she asked, thinking through the directions he gave. "Where are we going, Up North?" 

"I know a place," he told her. 

+++ 

A long dirt driveway led to the small cabin. Rio parked as close to the front door as he could in case a quick getaway was needed. 

He carried in both of their bags, stashing them by the door before doing a sweep of the place. Satisfied that everything was in order he rummaged through his bag. He pulled out a small black bag & a pair of pajamas.

Gesturing toward the bathroom he said, "Ladies first." 

She made quick work of freshening up & getting changed. It felt wrong to be putting her pajamas on in the daylight, the same way it had felt wrong to be changing out of them in the middle of the night & getting in her car. Although the latter seemed to be more acceptable. 

She wasn't sure if she had been moving painfully slow putting her things away, or if he had changed in record time, because before he knew it he was back from his own turn in the bathroom. She looked at him warily. 

"There's only one bed," she said. 

He looked around as if he wasn't familiar with the cabin. "Damn, you're right." 

"I'm not sharing a bed with you." 

"Fine by me," he told her. He chucked his toiletry bag on the nightstand before pulling back the sheets on the bed. 

"What are you doing?" she asked him as he climbed into the bed. 

"I'm going to try to sleep. Someone dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night & if I'm going to have to be on the lookout for a hitman I'd like to be well rested." He slid down, his head propped up on a pillow. 

"But -" She had barely gotten the word out before he interrupted. 

"Elizabeth, I'm going to sleep. You decide where you want to sleep, but do it quietly, yeah?" 

He shut his eyes as she stared at him. 

She wouldn't call what she'd done in the car sleeping. While Rio drove she leaned against the headrest; her eyes were closed, but her mind was racing. It had been nights since the last time she got any quality sleep, her thoughts keeping her up no matter how exhausted she was. 

She had spent days trying to find Fitzpatrick with no luck. Her calls had all gone to voicemail, her texts unanswered. He was no where to be found. She, Annie, & Ruby had all split up in their quest without any success. She had left things as late as she could & the night before she knew she was going to have to go to Rio. If she couldn't get in touch with Fitzpatrick before the scheduled hit, she needed to get Rio out of dodge. She hoped that Annie or Ruby would be able to get a hold of him first, but at least she could buy them some time this way. 

Her body & mind were feeling the affects of all the sleepless nights. She looked around the cabin again. It was small, consisting of one open space other than the bathroom. There were kitchen appliances along one wall, a card table & chairs against another. A TV was set up with a lounge chair facing it. She considered the chair, but thought back to her inability to sleep in the car. 

She huffed & looked back at the bed. She really had no other choice. 

He felt it when she climbed into bed & he had to work to keep the smile of satisfaction off his face. He did smile to himself when he heard her breath start to slow, syncing with his own. 

+++ 

When he opened his eyes he found her much closer than expected. She had curled up to his side, her arm draped over his chest. She was still asleep: She was actually asleep. He knew she hadn't fallen asleep when they switched off driving. He remembered the dark circles he had spotted under her eyes when she showed up at his door. Checking the time on his phone he decided he didn't need to get up yet & he tucked his arm gently around her. 

She woke up with a start when the alarm on her phone went off. As she went to reach for her phone she noticed the position she was in, not only next to him but wrapped around him. Instead of just reaching for her phone she sat up, moving away from him in the process. He was already awake & she cursed under her breath. She had a feeling that he wouldn't let her hear the end of it, the way she hadn't wanted to share a bed at all & then wound up cuddled against him. 

It seemed indulgent to sleep until noon, but it had been after 9am by the time they made it to the cabin. She had tried to argue that they didn't have to go as far as the Upper Peninsula, that they could find a hotel a few hours away, but he wasn't having it. She was thankful when he said the cabin was in Munising & not anywhere as far north as Hancock. 

And then she remembered why the alarm was set in the first place. It was noon. It was noon & he was still alive. 

She checked her texts. There were messages from Annie & Ruby both, nothing from Fitzpatrick. The girls hadn't had any luck yet getting a hold of him or finding him. She hoped that they had put enough distance between them, that they had bought enough time that they could get a hold of him to terminate his services before he completed their contract. 

It wouldn't be enough to try to call it off. At first she had thought it might be. How heavy could her conscience be if she had tried to do the right thing? If she had realized she made a mistake & tried to correct it, wasn't that what mattered? 

The more she sat with it she knew that it was all or nothing. She couldn't handle nothing again. She couldn't take going through the motions, a disconnect between her & the world around her, a numbness that was overpowering. Not again. 

She had tried to tell herself it was the weight of death that she was looking to avoid, but she knew that wasn't the whole of it. It was him. As the clock had raced forward & she was faced with the thought of him being gone again she knew she had made a rash decision. She had gotten caught up in thinking the only solution was for him to die. 

She had gotten so caught up that she hadn't thought about how much she would have missed him. 

It was something she hated admitting to herself, that there was still this pull between them. There would be time later to dissect all of that, she thought. That & the fact that the first time she'd gotten some decent sleep was while she was nestled in his arms. 

+++ 

During their drive that morning the wind had only gotten stronger the farther north they drove. It had continued to howl outside all day & a storm had rolled in, rain pelting against the windows of the cabin. They sat at the card table, bowls of canned soup in front of them courtesy of the stocked pantry. As they ate lightning flashed in the sky, the subsequent claps of thunder drawing closer each time. 

When the lights flickered out momentarily she felt her heart thud in her chest, seemingly as loud as the crack of thunder. Then the power went out, the cabin only illuminated when lightning struck again. Rio was up, moving through the cabin to get the nearest flashlight. She heard him rummage through a drawer before he started setting out & lighting emergency candles. Eventually he handed her the flashlight, a lit hurricane lamp in his hand. 

There was a noise outside that sounded like car tires on the drive. They both swore, looking at each other. Not that she had really had any say in where they went, but Rio's sell on the cabin had been that it had surveillance. With the power out though the cameras weren't working. He handed her the hurricane lamp & picked up the gun he had left on the table. They moved toward the door together in silence. He wished he didn't need her to provide light, that he could tell her to stay away from the doors & windows while he dealt with this. Nevermind the fact that she had gotten them into this mess. 

He opened the door & immediately the rain hit them, the wind blowing it sideways. There was a set of tire tracks in the driveway, but no unexpected car anywhere to be seen. They circled the cabin, but there wasn't anyone there either. As they made their way back to the front door she noticed something stuck under the windshield wiper of her minivan. She put her arm on his to get his attention & gestured toward the car with the lamp. 

It was an envelope in a protective plastic covering. 

Well enough appeased that the coast was clear for now they went back inside. Rain dripped off of them onto the floor as they walked over to the table. He placed the gun down & took hold of the hurricane lamp, holding it over the envelope as she took it out of the plastic. The envelope was thick, pages of computer paper stuffed inside, a letter on the first page. 

Her shoulders dropped as she read it through once, twice, to make sure she wasn't imagining it. The letter was from Fitzpatrick explaining that he was cutting their ties as it appeared that she did not wish for him to complete the service he was hired for in regards to her lover. She folded the paper & put it back in the envelope while she looked through the other pages, wondering how he had been able to calculate round-trip mileage so quickly & the cost of a lake side hotel for his last invoice. 

"It's over," she told Rio. A smile broke across her face. "It's over," she repeated to herself. 

After placing the lamp down on the table he moved toward her. Her hair was wet, plastered to her face, dripping onto her soaked through shirt. Still, he pushed the hair back from her face. Then his hands were on her waist, pulling her into him. The envelope dropped to the ground as his lips crashed down on hers. 

His hands traveled down to her ass & she felt a tug in her core. Heat rushed through her, chasing away the feelings of worry she had been harboring. It was just the two of them in a secluded cabin with no one coming to look for them. There was nothing stopping her from focusing on the feel of his hard body against hers. 

She peeled the shirt off of him, the wet fabric hitting the hardwood floor with force. His mouth was on her neck & God, she had missed this. Through all of it - the attempts with Dean to get pregnant, teaching Max how to shoot, hiring Fitzpatrick & the drawn out process - it was still Rio she thought of late at night or early in the morning when she felt that rush. Maybe it should have been an indication that she was never truly going to be ready for that trigger to be pulled. 

They left a trail of clothing as they made their way to the bed. She settled on top of him, full of him & contentment. She felt the tension drain out of her; the adrenaline that had been coursing through her was channeled into passion. He met her thrust for thrust, his movements just as charged as hers. It wasn't until after they were both spent that she wondered how much he had feared for his life. He had seemed so unbothered, like he was humoring her by leaving the city to hide out. It hadn't dawned on her until now that it was for show, sheer bravado. 

+++ 

Even though the hit was called off she still couldn't sleep. He had taken everything in stride & hadn't said a thing really about the fact that she had hired someone to kill him. It seemed too good to be true that he would let her off the hook & her mind wandered thinking of the different ways this could come back to fuck her over. 

She hadn't given him any grief about sharing a bed; it seemed trivial given everything that had transpired. In fact she had climbed into bed first, leaving the covers folded down until he got in too. But it was a challenge not to toss & turn next to him. She thought he was asleep & almost jumped when she heard him say her name. 

"Elizabeth." His voice was soft, sleepy. He turned onto his side to face her. 

She turned onto her side as well, face to face with him. 

"C'mere," he told her, holding an arm out. 

He wrapped his arm around her, tucked his chin over her head. She felt him take a long, deep breath that he held before exhaling. His breathing fell into a steady rhythm & she found herself inhaling at the same time as him. And then her mind quieted as she started to drift off to sleep. 

When she woke up, actually feeling rested for once, she didn't pull away from him. She let herself enjoy the warmth of him next to her. He stirred & then she felt his lips on her hairline as he kissed her forehead. And it struck her, the intimacy of it all. The sleep still in their eyes, the morning breath, their faces completely raw before full consciousness set in to give them the ability to school their emotions. 

It made her feel like she could be open, like he might be too. 

"You didn't seem surprised when I told you that I had a hit out on you," she said. She moved her head back a bit so she could see him better. 

"Darlin', did you really think you could hire a hitman without me knowing?" His hand went to her hair, his fingers resting in the strands. 

She didn't bother asking how exactly he knew, how long he had known. "You never said anything."

"Neither did you." 

"Mm," she said, her tone noncommittal. 

"Maybe we need to figure out a better way to communicate than threatening to kill each other."

He laughed & then so did she. "What's wrong with us?" she asked. 

"How much time you got, mama?" he asked. 

She reached out her hand. "Pinky promise, we'll try to learn how to communicate better."

He hooked her pinky with his & then brought her hand to his mouth, his lips brushing against her skin. 

He wasn't a promises kind of guy. Nor did he have a good track record when it came to communication. He hadn't made a pinky promise since he was a little kid. There was something earnest about it though. 

He dropped their hands to his chest & silently resolved to make good on it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy (belated) birthday to my Brio soulmate! It's not the epic slow burn novel of your dreams, but I hope you enjoyed this trope heavy fluff!


End file.
